Gut Instinct (Teen Wolf)

3:11 They Took It

Warning: mentions of trauma, resting, Stiles being a bit of a mom, cliffhanger that I honestly left clues for, knives, swearing, angst

The light stabbed into her eyes like daggers. She groaned as her head throbbed. It felt like someone took a hammer to her skull.

Then everything came back. The Dread Doctors. The tiled walls. The needles. Zach. The cane.

The light diminished, the pain in her head slowly faded. "Vic?" someone asked.

She knew that voice. She peeled her eyes open. The room was dim, but she could still see his form. He sat in her desk chair, small bags under his eyes. "Mischief," she breathed.

He breathed out in relief. "Hey, hey, don't move," he said. He pushed her hair back from her face. "Melissa said you might have a concussion."

"She might be right," Vic agreed. "How long was I out?"

"Not long," he told her. "Six hours. You really has us worried though. I'm gonna go get Dad, okay?"

"Okay," she said.

He kissed her forehead and left the room. She checked her right arm, the one that the Surgeon hit. It was wrapped in black gauze. She reached her left hand up and touched her head. A bandage was wrapped around her head. She didn't feel anymore pain from her arm. It had healed. Her head was no more then a dull throb but it still hurt. Head injuries were always a little tricky.

She looked to her nightstand, expecting her phone to be charging there. But then she remembered that it was missing when she woke up in the Dread Doctors' lair. Operation theatre? She didn't know what to call it.

How was Liam? Hayden? Did her wound heal? Did Liam get injured? Was he healing?

Her door opened once more. Her dad and brother walked in. Her dad walked over to her bed and took her left hand. "Hey, princess. How you feeling?" he asked.

She smiled at the old nickname. "Like shit. How's Liam? Hayden?"

"Hayden's healed," Stiles said. "Liam's been calling to ask how you are. So has Lydia, Malia, Mason, Scott. Everyone really."

"I lost my phone," she said. "I think they took it so I couldn't call for help."

"It's okay," her dad said. "We can get you another one. You want something to eat?"

Her stomach turned at the comment of food. "I think someone already answered for me," she answered.

He chuckled and pulled a granola bar from his pocket. "Let's just start with this, okay?"

She didn't want to risk nodding. "Help me up?" she asked. Her dad helped her sit up while Stiles moved her pillow up so she could sit against her headboard. She slowly took the granola out of the wrapper and took small bites.

"Better?" Stiles asked.

She swallowed the last of the bar. "Could use a cheeseburger."

"Not happening," Stiles protested.

"I'm gonna agree with your brother on that one," Noah said. "Until we know what they did to you, stick with small foods."

"That's fair," she said. "But they didn't inject me with anything. They took my hair, blood, tears."

"They took your DNA," Stiles realised.

She nodded and reached up to her necklace. She traced the familiar paths. They took Zach's wings. She wanted to say the words, but that wouldn't know. Wouldn't understand what they meant.